Education: Breaking Ground

From the hilltop on the southwest corner of Interstate 75 and
Cincinnati-Dayton Road, Bill Miller can see a long way.

“It’s a great site,” says the superintendent of Butler Technology
and Career Schools of the 24-acre site acquired by the district several years
ago. “I can stand at one corner and look down to Princeton High School and off
to the left of that, downtown Cincinnati.”

It’s not just physical distance Miller sees, but a vision of the
future; this building will turn this third West Chester Township exit off the
highway into the education interchange for the entire I-75 growth corridor from
Dayton to Cincinnati.

He envisions a multi-faceted business-education campus, where
students can complete their secondary education at Butler Tech, then move on to
certifications in adult career fields, pursue an associate’s degree and even a
bachelor’s degree from other institutions all on one site.

“Ultimately we’re talking about a seamless process where a student
can move from my 11th and 12th grade building, over into the adult world where
they gain certification into other skills,” he says. “That prepares them for
moving towards an associate’s degree and then on to a bachelor’s degree.”

To make that dream a reality, Miller says, it will take a number
of educational and business partners willing to invest on the site and an
expansion to an adjoining 130 acres of privately owned farmland. West Chester
developer Schumacher Dugan Construction is working on a master plan for the
additional land.

But by March, Butler Tech, one of Ohio’s largest vocational
districts with more than 20,000 high school and adult students, expects to break
ground on its building, a bioscience training center of between 30,000 and
50,000 square feet.

When the $13 million building opens in August 2015, it will house
labs and classrooms for about 300 students in five medical-related programs and
courses: dental assisting, medical terminology, state-tested nurse aide,
exercise science and medical assisting now at the district’s D. Russel Lee
campus outside Hamilton.

Many of the details, like whether the building will be two or
three stories, are still being worked out, but Miller envisions a combination of
classrooms and labs where students can get basic knowledge and then put it to
use solving problems in the labs.

Butler Tech is also starting to spread its vision for the site
among area businesses and educational institutions. It eventually hopes to have
room for up to five interconnected buildings, each about 30,000 square feet.

“As we gain partners the facility will expand,” he says.

If Butler Tech can interest employers, such as medical clinics or
bioscience or device makers, to locate there, it will add adult education at the
site to provide a ready source of skilled workers.

The West Chester-Liberty Chamber Alliance has already agreed to
move its offices to the Butler Tech campus in 2015.

“We’re looking to the Alliance helping us build those partnerships
as we move forward,” Miller says.

Joe Hinson, Chamber president and CEO, says the move is an
outgrowth of the Chamber’s efforts on workforce development with Butler Tech
stretching back a decade.

He sees the Butler Tech campus as a game-changer for the area,
supporting the growing number of hospitals and medical-related businesses along
I-75.

“To stay competitive, businesses need a continuous learning
mindset,” he says. The Butler Tech campus will provide that training. Hinson
says it will enhance the corridor’s visibility nationally and globally.